Chapter 235
Chapter 235
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 235
>Chapter Title: The Duel on the Jagged Cliffs
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The day to decide the arena's master called for sorcery even more dazzling than usual.
Fog blanketed the area.
Kang Seol and Daeha faced each other as they entered.
The arena's terrain had been newly shaped as well.
A sheer rock wall rose in the center of the arena, as if two mountain peaks had crossed and grown intertwined.
- It's been ages since we've seen the Jagged Cliffs terrain! All those bloody battles Daesan fought here! I wonder if you remember them!
"The Jagged Cliffs! Daesan's Jagged Cliffs!"
"To see it again..."
- Until now, out of respect for him, we've never used the Jagged Cliffs terrain in any blood matches. But today, as we're choosing Daesan's true successor, how could we leave it out? Right?
"You've got a way with words!"
"Yeah! It has to be the Jagged Cliffs!"
- The outcome between gladiators is heavily influenced by weather as well, so we won't interfere with the arena itself.
Swoooosh...
The clouds over the arena cleared, and rain soon poured down.
The Jagged Cliffs grew slick, making it hard to keep one's footing.
Hoo...
Hooo...
Kang Seol breathed out misty breaths amid the rain.
His heart pounded.
'Looks like I'll have to fight barehanded after all.'
He'd done everything he could in advance, but he had no idea how the battle would go.
He could only hope Daeha was at least a little weaker...
Kang Seol turned his gaze to Seolhong.
She watched him with worried eyes.
Before entering, Seolhong had shared a brief exchange with Kang Seol.
- If it's too dangerous, just stop...
- Seolhong, that's not what you truly want, is it?
- ...
- A warrior's heart must reveal its desires most clearly. Otherwise, desperation will consume it. Seolhong, what do you want?
Seolhong hesitated for a moment before answering.
- I want... you to win.
Kang Seol smiled faintly and placed a hand on her head.
- Then, as you wish, it will come to pass.
He was her god, and the parents who had left an irreplaceable void.
It was time to take responsibility.
He had to gift her a future brimming with new wonders.
The announcer's voice soon shook the arena.
- Let the matchhhh begin!
Pop-!
Pop-!
Daeha swung his staff, weighted with iron balls.
A red aura surged... and soon his ability activated.
[Daeha uses ultimate skill: Twin Dragon Staff.]
[Additional strikes trigger on every hit during the duration.]
'Ultimate from the start!'
Kang Seol's hackles rose.
But he had prepared for this moment.
Kang Seol possessed a different weapon—not summoning or martial arts.
It was the volatile ability gained through cooking.
[Uses volatile ability: Turtle Shield.]
[Base defense increases up to 300% and persists until a set damage threshold is reached.]
A turtle-shell-shaped aura formed around Kang Seol.
"As if!"
Claaaang-!
[Daeha uses One-Edge Strike.]
[Hit judgment applies even if the opponent successfully defends.]
In other words, even if Kang Seol defended, the Twin Dragon Staff's effect would continue activating.
KABOOOM!
KABOOOOOM!
'Damn it...'
The shell shattered in an instant.
There was a reason all of Daeha's blood matches ended within a minute.
No gladiator could withstand such brutish assaults repeatedly.
[Uses volatile ability: Ink Entanglement.]
[Each enemy hit reduces incoming damage by 2%. Ink Entanglement can increase damage reduction up to a maximum of 40%.]
Ssssh...
Dark ink flowed over Kang Seol's gear like rippling waves.
'Just mitigating damage won't win this.'
Ending it in five minutes was now off the table.
That had been Daesan's feat anyway—not Kang Seol's.
It was all theater to draw Daeha in.
Craaaackle...
Kang Seol's hand blackened.
His fist clashed with the shaft of Daeha's swung staff.
CLAAAAANG-!
Ziiiiiing...
【It hurts!】
Lament screamed.
Daeha's staff was no ordinary weapon either.
Clang-!
CLAAAAANG-!
"Urgh..."
Daeha was monstrous.
His bull-like charges were even fiercer than Daesan's.
KABOOOOOM-!
Crumble...
One strike from him crumbled a section of the Jagged Cliffs, sending it plummeting below.
Falling from there looked like it could claim a life.
"You dare... sully my brother's name?"
"Why not calm down?"
"Shut up! I can't stand by while you taint a warrior's heart any longer!"
[Daeha uses Meteor Strike.]
[Next attack is empowered.]
It was fast and long-reaching.
'I can't block it!'
Kang Seol shrank back as much as he could.
Crunch...
The attack struck his forearm and shoulder.
Grind...
Bones snapped with a crack, launching Kang Seol across the ground.
"Cough..."
Thanks to the Ancestor's Blood, he'd recover quickly, but pain was pain.
Whiiiiiing-!
Daeha's attack shot from midair to the ground.
KABOOOOOOOOOM-!
If iron rained from the sky instead of water, it might look like this—a massive crack split one cliff face.
Kang Seol barely dodged but was hurled airborne by the shockwave.
He sensed it.
This fight might end just like this.
* * *
One knight wandered through pitch-black darkness.
Whiiiiiir...
A blizzard blocked his path.
Knee-deep snow, accumulated who-knows-when, hindered his steps.
It shouldn't feel cold in a space like this, yet it did. If it were mere chill, that might be tolerable, but the problem was the space's rules kept shifting.
- Hardships will continue. It'll take time for this space to settle.
He'd acknowledged it, said he understood fully.
- Hey, mind if I come along? I'm worried too.
He'd turned down Karen's concerned offer as well. Ur had staunchly opposed it from the start anyway.
- That guy's fine, alive and kicking. That's just how he is. Take it slow, and you'll find him there. This isn't our first rodeo. You can do it, right, scrap heap?
Scrap heap, really.
- ...Take care of him. You're the only one who can right now.
He'd etched Jamad's request into his heart as well.
And so, laden with baggage, he set off on his journey. Ur had warned that time inside and out might not align.
Meaning the time he endured here could be a mere instant outside—or perhaps equivalent. Impossible to know.
Hardships kept coming.
Ominous nightmares, cold, heat—even helplessness visited sporadically.
He pressed on, even while dry-heaving.
'Wait, is this even forward...?'
Even he couldn't tell.
The traces of his power were fading bit by bit.
If they vanished entirely, he'd truly be abandoned in this space.
Ur would come searching eventually, but who knew how long that would take—and more importantly...
'I can't be late.'
His master would be waiting.
For them—for anyone.
Whiiiiiir...
The snowfall intensified, snow now up to his waist. A miracle he could still walk.
Helplessness struck again.
Life is inherently cynical toward others.
All lives were the same, differing only in degree.
One's own life could never be less important than another's.
'Why is this thought surfacing now?'
Someone's words came to mind.
Words from someone trusted long ago.
- Life is cynical.
He remembered.
The one who shared those words.
'Rein...'
Montla's strongest knight.
The Solar Knight Rein.
- Especially humans. No one cares about others' lives. When trouble strikes, they look away. Avoiding injustice.
He had said.
- No need to blame them. It's natural. Humans can afford to be that way. They can walk staring at the ground, ignore others. But we can't.
Rein had imprinted the creed deep within him.
- Knights can't. We must face others head-on.
"Why?"
- So they'll trust us. Trust us enough to share their burdens.
Rein had spoken while gazing at Montla's emperor, Jin, from afar.
- Because it'll help them. Knights are fools who always want to be helpful.
Rein faded into the distance.
'...Found it.'
After Rein vanished, a door appeared.
Just then, the last traces of his power disappeared completely.
Knock knock...
He rapped on the door.
"May I come in?"
Polite—and ridiculous.
Zzzzt...
The door shriveled, trying to vanish.
Smack-!
He thrust his hand inside.
"No. I'm coming in."
At last, he bridged the long severance and arrived.
Karuna had returned home.
To the embrace of the family he'd left alone.
* * *
Raaaain...
Rumbleeee!
At that moment, Kang Seol endured brutal trials.
Thwack-!
"Ughhh..."
Smack!
Crunch! Crunnch...
Kang Seol bounced off the staff this way and that. Even amid it, he meticulously avoided vitals, allowing him to keep rising.
But even he was nearing his limit.
'For Daeha to surpass the old Daesan...'
The current conqueror Daeha—the sole variable in his plan.
His power clearly exceeded Daesan's of old.
Otherwise, Kang Seol wouldn't be so overwhelmed.
'Pure stats... have their limits.'
He'd harbored some unease, but to realize it starkly here, in the Warrior's Heart.
'The Ancestor's Blood heals my body, but... how do I take him down?'
Daeha's one minute and Kang Seol's five had long passed.
Daeha pressed the assault relentlessly, while Kang Seol scrambled to defend.
"Daeha's too strong, isn't he?"
"Kang Seol's getting pushed that hard?"
The gap between conqueror and challenger was wider than expected.
Whirrr-!
Daeha's staff vibrated.
[Daeha uses Limb Shredder.]
[Targets hit by Limb Shredder have all HP recovery reduced by 30%. If this attack deals 20% or more of max HP, all HP recovery is further reduced by 10%.]
Craaaack!
"Coughhack..."
He blocked with both arms, but Kang Seol was shoved into crevices among the jagged rocks.
He dangled limply there.
"Kang Seol! Don't give up!"
"It's over. He's done for."
Everyone here knew the conquest matches' brutality. Challengers and conquerors alike died often.
Daeha looked down at Kang Seol and pointed his staff.
"I don't know why you invoked my brother's name. But this much is crystal clear! Hear me, all!"
Daeha's voice filled the Warrior's Heart.
"My brother, Daesan, is the true conqueror! Though he's journeyed far away now, he never once lost here in the Warrior's Heart! His successor will be the same! Yet this man right now..."
Will lose.
He meant to shout.
"Right now..."
But Daeha's words cut short.
Zzzzzzzzt...
Kang Seol's aura surged like a dam bursting, flooding outward.
Raaaain...
Rumbleeee-!
Lightning flashed with thunder, revealing Kang Seol's form.
"Fuhuhu... Daesan never lost here once?"
"...Correct."
"...What a coincidence."
Kang Seol turned pitch-black.
"So did I."
The Night Raven reclaimed.
However, this form differed from before.
When fused with Jamad, fang-like patterns symbolizing Jamad had marked around his mouth.
Now, no fang patterns—or any patterns—appeared.
Instead, blue divine light overflowed from his eyes.
Psssh...
Kang Seol—no, someone other than Jamad had arrived within him.
"I'm... a bit late."
It was Karuna's voice.
【You're here! You're late! Idiot! Idiot! I was waiting!】
Shhhrrrrrak-!
Lament rejoiced, reverting to its original form.
The jet-black sword that had saved Santos.
Kang Seol rose.
[Knight 'Moonlight Knight Karuna' assumes Night Raven form.]
[Absorbing 'Moonlight Knight Karuna's stats.]
[Job: Knight status.]
...
Rumble-!
Everyone gathered in the Warrior's Heart held their breath. Not because of the thunder—they all knew that much.
Kang Seol murmured softly to Karuna.
"No, you arrived right on time."